


How Fondly Loves (The Homesick Heart)- Hunk

by painted_lady12



Series: How Fondly Loves (The Homesick Heart) [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Gender Dynamics, Angst and Feels, Dreams, Friendship/Love, Genderfluid Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk (Voltron) Angst, Hunk (Voltron)-centric, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Season/Series 07, Shiro and Hunk bonding time, Team Bonding, altean soap operas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 10:44:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16763575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/painted_lady12/pseuds/painted_lady12
Summary: Excerpt:Hunk needed to talk about something.Shiro was sure of it.  First, he was watching Shiro like he was waiting for an opening.  Shiro was helping him to trying to repair a small drone from the castle with him, and every time he gave Shiro instructions or asked for a tool he would pause and twiddle his thumbs before shaking his head and just asking what he initially meant to.Then, later when they were preparing food, Hunk pulled out a couple of purple triangles.“I’m calling tea party.”“After we hand out lunch, sure.  I’ll have a tea party with you.”





	How Fondly Loves (The Homesick Heart)- Hunk

**Author's Note:**

> The paladins are on their way home after the battle with Lotor, and for some of them it's bringing up bad memories and old wounds.
> 
> Each paladin will tell a chapter about another, and over the course of the five chapters the five humans returning to Earth will start to come to terms with what returning to Earth means to them.
> 
> This chapter is Hunk's, as told by Shiro
> 
> MUST SUBSCRIBE TO SERIES TO GET ALL FIVE THEY ARE GOING TO BE TAGGED AND RATED INDIVIDUALLY
> 
> Title from a poem by John Imlah

Hunk liked having Shiro as a guest in his lion. He kept to himself, and cleaned up the area when he was bored. The older man would even sometimes offer to help Hunk cook.

There was also the fact that Shiro was always ready to listen. Hunk complained about how Lance and Keith had kissed, and Shiro was stunned for a moment but quickly recovered.

Altogether things were going quite well for the two of them sharing space.

  
  


***

  
  


Hunk was watching Shiro with thoughtful eyes as he shifted uncomfortably under the attention. The two of them were about to go to sleep, but Hunk had promised Pidge to keep up the “good memories” game to prevent Shiro from having nightmares.

However, Shiro wasn’t even sure where to start. Pidge usually instructed him what to do, and now Shiro was at a loss with Hunk staring at him expectantly.

The two of them stared at the floor for a minute before Shiro sighed and asked, “Hunk, what are you most excited about when we get back to earth?”

The yellow paladin lit up at that, and said easily, “I can’t wait for my mama’s cooking. Her and my sister and I would spend hours making super delicious dishes that we would then eat for the rest of the week. We all had crazy schedules but that way we all were eating the same food, even if it was at a different time or place. She’s the reason I love cooking so much.”

Shiro felt his chest warming up. Maybe Hunk and him could come up with their own method of keeping Shiro from having nightmares. “What was your favorite dish that she made?”

Hunk tapped his chin, hugging a stuffed animal to his chest with his other hand. Shiro doesn’t remember them ever coming across stuffed animals in their voyages, but ignores it as Hunk remembers with a shout, “Italian!”

“Italian?” Shiro wasn’t expecting that.

“Italian,” Hunk confirmed wistfully. “My mom made incredible dishes from our home country, don’t get me wrong, but she was the only one in our neighborhood that could cook authentically Italian dishes. She was the one to go to if you wanted a fresh homemade marinara, or eggplant parm sandwiches. My mom made the best eggplant parmesan I’ve ever had.”

That night, Shiro was able to rest easy thinking about walking into Hunk’s house and being greeted by Hunk’s whole family, with a plate of eggplant parmesan waiting for him.

The smell alone in his dream helped to keep him from worrying too much.

  
  


***

  
  


During the day Shiro was known to hop around lions, especially if someone needed to leave their lion to talk to another paladin.

This time, Lance had called him into red. The red paladin was pacing in his paladin armor, and jumped up when Shiro entered. 

“Shiro it’s good that you were free. I need to discuss this cliffhanger with Keith. This graphic novel series is INCOMPLETE and the last one that is included ends ON A CLIFFHANGER!!!”

Crazed blue eyes met Shiro’s own calm ones, and Lance quickly calmed down and composed himself.

“Anyway,” Lance shot a message to Keith to send over the wolf.

“Hey, Lance?”

The other paladin turned to him brightly, asking, “What’s up, Shiro?”

Shiro thought about Lance telling Hunk about the kiss. Shiro thought about asking Lance to be careful, because Keith was never good at making sure that he got what he wanted.

Instead he said, “Just… don’t hurt him, okay?”

There was a level of understanding there that made Lance’s eyes widen and his lips part in surprise. “How did you…?”

“This little group of ships has no secrets, Lance. Plus, Pidge walked in on you guys the other day.”

Gulping, Lance was startled to see that the wolf had appeared to bring Lance to Keith so that they could discuss the cliffhanger ending. 

  
  


***

  
  


Later that evening, Shiro offered to help the wolf distribute dinner instead of Hunk. Hunk was grateful as Shiro pinged between each of the lions.

In blue, Allura and Krolia were training in hand to hand. Allura didn’t have as much experience in this area, and she was trying to pick up on it. Krolia was instructing her on how to use her small frame to her advantage, and where it was best to strike a Galra to make sure that they went down.

Shiro whistled to get their attention, and the two of them ran over to the food happily.

“You’ve got a lot of natural talent, Allura. For a princess, you aren’t very delicate.”

Laughing, Allura brushed some hair falling in her face back. “Well, I try to defy all those pesky stereotypes. It helps to keep people on their toes.”

Shiro appeared in red next.

This time it was Lance and Romelle watching some downloaded Altean soap operas. Romelle was sniffling, and Lance was straight up bawling at the scene.

“Uh…” Shiro cleared his throat, knocking on the wall to get their attention. “Dinner?”

Lance looked up helplessly. “Shiro, they just want to be together but one of them is part Galra and the other is allergic to Galra fur!!!”   
  


Romelle picked up a tissue and blew her nose, trying to get herself together. “I never knew that life on old Altea was full of so much strife.”

Shiro wanted to point out that soap operas were meant to be full of strife, and were fictional, but instead placed their meals down on the table and disappeared into the green lion.

Pidge and Coran were pouring over books. When Shiro came in, Pidge brightened up. “Shiro, guess what? Coran has some old textbooks from a gender studies class he took in school. The whole ceremony and defining your own gender is fascinating. The concept is ancient!”

“It is, indeed. Alteans started out as beings without gender that simply multiplied by splitting in two, but that proved to only exacerbate whatever issues the population was already facing. Back then people would declare their gender because their sex was all the same. Eventually Alteans interbred with their nearby moon and picked up the ability to sexually reproduce. It’s truly a harrowing tale of…”

Shiro placed both their plates down and waved his arm quickly. “I’d love to hear all about this when I’m back in green with you, Pidge, but I have to get Keith his dinner.”

Pouting, Pidge called out, “I forget nothing! When you’re back in green this is all you’ll be hearing, night and day!”

At that, Shiro rolled his eyes. “Alright drama…” Shiro paused, thinking it over for a moment. He had intended to say “drama queen”, but Pidge no longer identified as a girl.

Pidge didn’t seem bothered by it, though. “I consider the term ‘drama queen’ to be a state independent of actual gender. Just like a dude can be a drama queen and still be a dude, I can be a drama queen and still be genderfluid.”

“What is this drama queen business?” Coran asked thoughtfully, and Pidge launched into the explanation as Shiro appeared in black.

Keith was in even worse shape than before. His fists were rubbed raw from a punching bag he had somehow snuck onto his lion.

“Dinner,” Shiro yelled loudly, and Keith froze, wiping the sweat from his brow and coming over to grab his food.

Keith started eating in silence, but then slammed his fist against the wall.

“I know that you’ve dying to ask about it, so just get it over with, already!”   
  


Completely at a loss, Shiro picked out his dinner and sent the wolf back to Hunk, deciding for the next few minutes that this was where he was needed. 

He approached the subject slowly. “So… are we talking about you and Lance?”

“Of course I am! What else would I be talking about?!” Keith was exasperated already, and Shiro nodded slowly, taking a bite of his own sandwich. “I mean, yeah, have I had a crush on Lance for a while? I have. You know that. I just… he needed support the last few weeks and I’ve been there for him and at first it was just hugs and holding hands for moral support and then… he kissed me and I just fell into it.”

“Mm-hmm,” Shiro continued to nibble on his sandwich.

“I mean… he’s got a talented tongue and I wasn’t ready for it. Duncan James had nothing on what Lance can do with his mouth…”

Okay, now Shiro was choking on alien bread. He was not expecting to hear about Lance’s tongue’s talent while he was innocently eating dinner. Keith had to pat his back several times before Shiro could properly breathe again.

When he got back to Hunk’s lion, he was relieved to collapse into bed and look over at Hunk, who seemed to be brimming with a new story to tell Shiro that night.

“Okay, okay so my sister and me had this thing that when we needed to talk about something important we’d call ‘tea party’. It basically meant that you had to drop whatever you were doing and have a cup of tea until the person was ready to talk. My grandmother had this gorgeous tea set from China, which my mom would always insist that I wash up before using because I always had engine grease on me somewhere. Anyway, my sister and I would sit down and we’d drink the sweetest teas and sometimes we’d even go down to the market and get some little baked goods like blueberry and orange scones and coconut truffles…”

That night, Shiro dreamt of sitting around a table with the other paladins drinking tea and talking about getting back to Earth.

When he woke up, he didn’t remember what anyone had said.

  
  


***

  
  


Hunk needed to talk about something.

Shiro was sure of it. First, he was watching Shiro like he was waiting for an opening. Shiro was helping him to trying to repair a small drone from the castle with him, and every time he gave Shiro instructions or asked for a tool he would pause and twiddle his thumbs before shaking his head and just asking what he initially meant to.

Then, later when they were preparing food, Hunk pulled out a couple of purple triangles.

“I’m calling tea party.”

“After we hand out lunch, sure. I’ll have a tea party with you.”

This time when he delivered around lunch it was a much quicker trip. Pidge was working on making modifications to the cleaning drone with Coran, Allura was busy reading a romance novel, and Lance was teaching Romelle the basics of checkers.

It was when he got to Keith, again, that made him pause.

“I’ve got lunch…”

“...when you said open up about Captain James, what did you mean?”

The salad hovered in Shiro’s hand between the two of them, Shiro quickly avoiding eye contact. “This isn’t the time, Keith. Forget I said anything.”

“What did you mean? You sounded like you were implying something specific and I’m trying to wrap my head around it but I just can’t, Shiro.”

The salad was placed on the table, and the wolf took Shiro back to Hunk.

Keith has looked stricken, but Shiro just didn’t have it in him to deal with that at the moment when he promised he’d talk with Hunk

Now there were two grown men settled around a table in their giant space cat with dainty little mugs from the Castle etched with Altean symbols waiting to talk about their feelings.. Apparently Altean tea was concentrated into little shapes and you just dropped it into hot water and it dissolved, leaving the tea behind.

They both had dropped their triangles in with interest.

Hunk sniffed the steaming mug curiously, and his eyes narrowed.

“You don’t have to drink the tea, Hunk,” Shiro reminded him, because he was honestly very curious why Hunk had called tea party. He hadn’t even brought up the concept until last night. It was almost like Hunk had something on his mind and was just waiting for the opportunity to ask about it.

Shiro did attempt to take a sip of the tea, and it actually didn’t taste that bad. He would liken it to berry water with honey. It wasn’t what he was expecting but it wasn’t disgusting, either. It was actually pretty soothing.

“I just… I wanted to talk to you in the middle of the day because I didn’t want this messing with your dream schedule thing,” Hunk looked frazzled as he fiddled with a few crackers that they had found in their food stores. “I just, I… You know when something is on your mind, but then you’re so busy that you don’t even have time to worry about it? Then, like, you get the time to worry about it because there’s nothing else to do and you just can’t seem to get it out of your head?”

Freezing now that Hunk had posed a question, Shiro said slowly, “...yes. I guess I do.”

He did not.

However, Hunk looked relieved. “I just… I’ve been worrying about my sister. Before I went to the Garrison… I ended things on pretty bad terms with her. We were so close, and I… now I’m wondering whether or not she’ll actually want to see me.”

Shiro felt a pang in his chest. He wished that he had family that he could worry about this with but… fate didn’t shine kindly on Takashi Shirogane. “I’m sure she’ll be relieved.”

Chuckling nervously, Hunk twiddled with the handle of his mug. “You say that now, but you haven’t met my sister. She’s a little bit bossy and opinionated and… well, you’d have to meet her. She’s also loyal and daring and compassionate, too. I’m not trying to make her sound like a terrible person.”

“I’m sure she isn’t,” Shiro reassured quickly.

With another relieved sigh, Hunk continued, “So a few weeks before I left for the Garrison she called tea party. She’s two years older than me, but all our other siblings were so far apart in age that we were each other’s confidants. So she called tea party and told me that she had met some boy.”

The term “boy” was full of malice, and it was rare that Shiro saw Hunk look truly angry, but as the story unfolded his shoulders tightened and his face screwed up with rage. 

“She told me that I couldn’t tell mom and dad, so I didn’t. I was a good little brother until… I walked in on them in her room one night when just the two of us were home. He… it was pretty hard to misinterpret what was happening. My sister was crying silently and he was… having his way with her.”

Carefully, Shiro placed the teacup down.

It appeared to be a far more serious discussion than he initially anticipated. 

“I… was really young, but it’s hard to misinterpret that, right? The problem was that she kept dating him. When I left for the Garrison they were still together. Whenever I came home for holidays after she introduced him to the family he was always there, every Christmas and Easter and New Years and all I could see was the image of her crying while he raped her.”

Sighing, Shiro asked quietly, “Did you ever ask her what she thought of that night?”

“No,” Hunk’s voice shook a bit. “It never came up. It was just… even if they were dating, he was like three years older than her. She couldn’t give consent anyway. No matter how you spin it… It was such a complicated situation to her, but I could see it for what it was. It was just rape.”

Something rustled in the cockpit, probably alien static, and then the two of them were plunged into silence.

“Are you worried that they’ll still be together?”

Hunk deflated, finally taking a sip of the tea and humming as the sweetness washed over his tongue. “I’m worried that she hasn’t stood up for herself. Even if it isn’t the same guy, I’m worried that she’ll be with another asshole that isn’t good enough for her. She’s my older sister, and she deserves the best. I’ve been gone for a while, and I just don’t want to come back and see more of the same. We were so close. She wanted the big fairytale wedding and a knight in shining armor. I don’t want her settling for an evil warlock.”

Shiro could understand where he was coming from. “What’s the worst thing that would happen? Would it be if she is dating another asshat?”

It was rare that Shiro cursed, so Hunk cracked a smile at the word. “I… it would just feel like no matter what we’re all just stuck on our same paths in life. No matter how many planets I save, I still fail to save the person who means the most to me.”

They continued to drink their tea in silence for a few minutes. Finishing his off first, Shiro stood up. “Want my opinion?”

Hunk glanced up with wide, hopeful eyes. “Yeah, of course I do.”

“I think that you’re lucky to have anyone in your life that you care that much for at all. All I have is Keith and Adam, and of course you guys, but… I think you’re missing the point. There is someone in your life that you love enough to move heaven and earth for. Just knowing that you have someone like that is a blessing in and of itself, isn’t it? Whether she dates the right or wrong guy, you still have that bond. She won’t ever live a loveless life. She always has you.”

The words settled over the two of them, and Hunk looked like he’d been stripped of his previous arguments and hung out to dry.

This was one of those moments where Shiro felt he should walk away to create a dramatic flair, and he exited into the training room in yellow. Seriously, how had no one noticed that he was gay until now?

He started doing one-handed push ups, and soon Hunk came in and started lifting weights and doing crunches.

The two of them trained in silence until Shiro turned on the little radio and the tiny guitar jingle was playing.

He quickly turned it back off. It was better to work in silence, anyway.

  
  


***

  
  


That night, Hunk was sitting on a chair next to Shiro’s bunk, a notebook out and open in his hands.

“Back in the day I decided to write down all my favorite memories after we had that issue with downloading Sendak’s memories. It got me thinking that someone could just wipe them all from my brain one day, and that fucked me up. I dug this out of some of my old tool kits from the castle. I figured it might be helpful with the memory dream stuff.”

Shiro shrugged into his pajamas, trying not to liken this to a parent reading their kid a bedtime story.

“Alright, so once upon a time…”

“Hunk!” Shiro groaned with a chuckle as Hunk laughed good-naturedly.

Taking a deep breath, Hunk started again. “This is the story of how I met Lance!”

Interest actually cropped up in Shiro, and he urged Hunk to continue.

“So this guy right here was used to mama’s home cooking, so when he got to the Garrison and saw that their food was not only gross, but had mandated portion sizes, I was not a happy camper. That is what led me to sneak into the kitchens one night. Except, as I was looking for crackers or cheese or something to help tide over my hunger, the door to the kitchen opened and I ducked behind a counter.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Was it Lance?”

“No, don’t rush the story!” Hunk chastised, looking back down at his journal, “It was actually the dorm mom. She brought me to the housing office to get disciplined. As punishment I was told that I was going to be re-organizing the closets in the gym, which meant cleaning the old sweaty yoga mats and drawing new numbers on weights where the numbers had rubbed off. Luckily, my buddy Lance had gotten caught picking flowers in the courtyard after bedtime for a girl he liked, so the two of us got stuck together. Our friendship began while hauling target dummies out and digging the old bullets out of them. It’s truly a story for the ages…”

Hunk went on about their weird adventures bonding in detention, and Shiro was asleep before Hunk had even finished. 

That was okay, though. Hunk’s steady voice followed him into his dream and kept him calm as he watched Lance goof off with Hunk with their noses held tight by clothespins.

Shiro’s dream took a little bit of a turn. He saw Lance and Hunk laughing and joking around as Hunk packed up for the holidays. He watched them, as if Hunk was narrating directly into his dream this time.

“Are you worried about seeing that  _ Come mierde _ again? The one dating your sister?” Lance’s voice turned concerned suddenly as Hunk gathered up his things. Lance was sitting on Hunk’s bed swinging his legs restlessly as Hunk just smiled and brushed the comment off.

“It’s fine, Lance. I can’t get too worked up about it. He isn’t going anywhere.”

Lance came over and patted Hunk on the back. “Why don’t you let me hate him for you, then? That way you can pretend to like him but when you’re with me you don’t have to pretend.”

Hunk froze for a second, his steady gaze faltering briefly to show that Hunk was touched by Lance’s gesture.

“Yeah, that could work.”

  
  


***

  
  


Shiro arrived at the black lion a short while later to Keith talking animatedly with Lance over video. The old black paladin waved.

It was always weird to be back in his lion knowing that it wasn’t his to command anymore. Keith ran the show differently. The lion itself seems to have evolved and morphed to fit Keith’s style of leadership.

It didn’t feel familiar, anymore.

Then Shiro walked towards the cockpit to hear the end of a conversation, pausing briefly.

“The nightmares have gotten better. Having you look out for me helped,” Lance’s voice was grateful and quiet, and Shiro decided that he should walk away.

“We’re going to get through this, Lance,” Keith’s tone was unexpectedly gentle, “Pidge and Shiro did something similar the other day with Shiro’s dreams. The lions are trying to keep us all sane, and they are helping us talk to each other.”

There was silence for a second before Lance asked, “Do you regret it?”

The question was so quiet that Shiro thought he’d imagined it until Keith responded.

“No, I don’t. Do you?”

The answer was immediately, “never.”

Shiro decided that that was a good place to step into the cockpit, cutting the conversation off.

Keith said good-bye to Lance and turned around. Upon second glance, he actually looked a little bit off. Shiro felt his protective side flare up at seeing Keith so worn down. “Hey, are you okay?”

Shiro had reached out to touch Keith’s shoulder, like he’d done a thousand times, but this time Keith flinched back and hopped out of the pilot’s seat.

“Stop asking me that, Shiro,” Keith bit out, his purple eyes brightening uncannily in the gentle glow from the controls. At that request, the older man backed off, concern melting into mild frustration.

Shiro remembered what Hunk had said.

_ I… it would just feel like no matter what we’re all just stuck on our same paths in life. No matter how many planets I save, I still fail to save the person who means the most to me _

“Come to me when you’re ready, then.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Next time, the final chapter: Keith, as told by Hunk
> 
> There might be some follow-up stories? Idk I really like this cute little series and it makes me really happy to write it.
> 
> If you are interested in more, hmu in the comments! If you like this, check out some of my other fics [over here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/painted_lady12/works)


End file.
